The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine, Article Six

Article 6: Unbelief Man's Responsibility

However, that many who have been called through the gospel do not repent or believe in Christ but perish in unbelief is not because the sacrifice of Christ offered on the cross is deficient or insufficient, but because they themselves are at fault.
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At this point, the authors of the Canons must respond to the perennial and nagging question raised by the biblical teaching about the death of Christ, and why it is that not all are saved, if Christ died for all.  This is especially the case in light of the Reformed distinctive that Christ’s death was designed to save God’s elect, not merely to make all people "saveable."

You have undoubtedly heard questions like this one commonly raised by various Arminians.  “If the preaching of Christ crucified is the power of God unto salvation, why do all not believe the gospel when it is preached to them?”  Where does the fault truly lie when someone does not believe the message of Christ crucified, and then perishes eternally? 

Since the Reformed Christian contends that God alone must save, and since not all are saved, the Arminian will object that the Reformed understanding of the atonement makes God to blame when someone is lost, because God supposedly did nothing to save them–the death of Christ being “limited” to the elect.  On the Reformed understanding, is not God himself to blame because he is not being fair in not choosing everyone to be saved?  Does this mean that God somehow prevents certain individuals from believing and coming to faith in Christ when he chooses others to be saved, as is so often charged? 

Here we should go back to the categories set out under the first head of doctrine to get needed perspective.  As I mentioned when treating the various articles under that first head, if we approach the difficult questions related to sin and grace with the optimistic presuppositions about human nature such as those of American democracy, then, of course, this becomes a real moral issue.  If you believe that everyone is equally entitled to a chance at heaven, and that people can only exclude themselves from heaven by not believing, then the Reformed view will immediately seem unfair and contrary to reason. 

But, as we have seen during our discussion of the first head of doctrine, this is the wrong starting point.  Unlike the democratic culture of modern America, the Scriptures do not start with the optimistic presuppositions about human nature which contend that everyone is entitled to an equal chance at heaven.  On the contrary, the Scriptures teach that every one is equal—equally worthy of God’s judgment and damnation, since we all fell in Adam and are guilty for his act of sin as well as all our own acts of rebellion. 

According to the apostle Paul in Romans 3:9-20, there is no one righteous, no not even one.  There is no one who seeks God, no, not even one.  All have turned away and together we all became worthless.  There is no part of human nature that is not tainted and stained with the influence of sin. 

And that is the whole point.  In his great love and boundless mercy, God elects some of Adam’s fallen race to be saved from his own wrath.  He sends Jesus Christ to die for them.  And then, through the message of the gospel, the Holy Spirit calls these people to faith.  This is why the Reformed speak of redemption decreed, accomplished and applied.

This, then, must be kept in view when we set out to answer the question why some do not believe the gospel when it is preached to them.  The answer is simple when considered from the perspective of the Scriptures, but certainly not popular when considered from the perspective of the culture.  God leaves these fallen sinners where they are—sinful by nature and by choice and under his just condemnation.

Since people in such a sinful condition are enslaved to their sinful natures—their wills included—they do not want to believe the gospel and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation when Christ crucified is preached to them. 

As the fallen children of Adam, if left on our own and not inclined by God to believe, we too would prefer to go to hell for all eternity rather than bow the knee but one time and confess in faith that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”  This is why we must always be skeptical of any rosy view of human nature and why our confidence must always reside in the gospel, which is as the Scriptures declare, the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. 

This is why the Reformed place no confidence in the flesh, and in the ability of fallen sinners to believe the gospel and come to faith in Christ.  Left to ourselves, we do not want to trust the savior.  We do not want to believe the gospel. 

Therefore let us be perfectly clear, the Scriptures always give all of the credit for the salvation of sinners to God, and always assign the blame when sinners perish to the sinners themselves.  As the authors of the Canons put it—they themselves who do not believe the gospel when it is preached are at fault.

The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine, Article Five

Article 5: The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All

Moreover, it is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel.
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Having labored in articles 1-4 to establish the point that the purpose of the death of Christ is to be found in the satisfaction of God’s wrath toward sinners who have sinned against his infinite holiness, the authors now move on to make the point that the very nature of the saving work of Christ demands that it be proclaimed to sinners everywhere.  This is because the proclamation of the cross of Christ (i.e., the gosepl) is the primary means by which God calls his elect to faith. 

As we saw under article 3 of the first head of doctrine, the Canons make the point that God has not only ordained the ends (who will be saved), he has also ordained the means by which he will save them, and that is through the preaching of the gospel.  As we have seen, the Scriptures themselves connect the end (the salvation of God’s elect), with the means by which God saves his elect (the death of his only begotten son, whose shed blood is more precious then gold or silver). 

It is clear that the death of Christ is the only possible means by which God’s anger towards sinners can be satisfied and turned away from them.  Therefore, it is the gospel--which is defined by Paul as the proclamation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) in such a way that Christ’s death is publically placarded before sinners (Galatians 3:1)--which must be proclaimed to sinners.  This is so that sinners might understand that God’s anger toward them is satisfied only by the death of Christ.  This is so that sinners may trust in the satisfaction of Christ to save them from God’s anger toward their sin.  This is so that sinners might receive the forgiveness of sins, and the free gift of eternal life. 

To put it more simply, God's end—the salvation of his elect—determines the means of saving the elect.  It is the death of Christ which assuages God’s holy anger towards sin in a display of his justice and mercy.  Since the only way any can be saved is through the death of Christ for them and in their place, this gospel must be preached to all nations (people) without exception.  Since God has determined to save his elect through the death of his son, this necessitates that the gospel be preached to all so that God’s elect, scattered throughout all the nations, might come to faith in Jesus Christ and thereby be saved from God’s wrath to come.

Sadly, it is so commonly argued that if you believe in the Reformed conception of election, you will inevitably depreciate the need for evangelism, I am afraid that many Reformed Christians have tragically come to believe the falsehood foisted upon them by the other side.  There are indeed a number of faithful Reformed churches and missionary organizations, yet sadly, the Reformed do not have a reputation for being “evangelistic.”  This is a shame.  Let us all endeavor to do better. 

But apart from the question “How are the Reformed doing at evangelism today?” let us be careful not to forget that the real question here is, “How does the Reformed view of election affect the Reformed view of evangelism?”  As is clear from the Canons, the Reformed believe that election and the preaching of the gospel are necessarily connected in terms of divinely appointed ends and means.  The Reformed should, therefore, be quite zealous to see the gospel preached to their neighbors as well as to the nations.  When the Reformed neglect evangelism, they are not being faithful to their own confessions and heritage.

Thus the two great errors which arise at this point are the error of neglecting evangelism—of which the Reformed are often times guilty—and the error of basing the success of the evangelistic enterprise upon the ability of the fallen human will and not in the sovereign power of God which is made manifest in the preaching of Christ crucified.  This latter error has moved much of Christ’s church away from a cross-centered faith to an enticement, entertainment-centered faith. 

This change in emphasis has produced a host of problems, from the altar call to the mass evangelistic crusade which takes places apart from the auspices of a local congregation and the means of grace.  Whenever this enticement-entertainment approach is adopted, the emphasis inevitably falls upon the enticements themselves and there is always a subtle but real tendency to manipulate people to respond to the stimuli. The focus is no longer upon a clear and faithful proclamation of the saving work of Christ in which the hope of effective evangelism is grounded upon God’s grace and power.  Instead, too often we trust in the natural ability of fallen men and women to come to faith if enticed to do so.

As Reformed Christians let us carefully take note of what our confessions teach about the relationship between election and evangelism, namely that “it is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life.  This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel.”  It is the Paul who teaches us that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of whoever believes (Romans 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:17).  Thus we must place our confidence in the proclamation of the saving work of Christ, if we wish to see men and women come to faith in the Savior.  If we believe in total depravity and unconditional election, we must equally believe in the centrality of the preaching of Christ crucified, since of these things are necessarily connected.

The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine, Article Four

Article 4: Reasons for This Infinite Value

This death is of such great value and worth for the reason that the person who suffered it is--as was necessary to be our Savior--not only a true and perfectly holy man, but also the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Another reason is that this death was accompanied by the experience of God's anger and curse, which we by our sins had fully deserved.
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At this point, it is vital to state with some precision what was only implied in the earlier articles.  The reason why Jesus’ death can satisfy God’s justice and anger toward our sin, is that Jesus is the God-man who suffers and dies for us, and in our place.  Jesus can identify with us, and our sin can be imputed to him since he is one of us in every respect.  As true man and the Second Adam, Jesus Christ comes to stand in our place as our representative before God, just as did Adam.  But unlike Adam, Jesus Christ passed the test, and endured all temptation without sin. 

Since Jesus Christ is also God in human flesh, his death alone is sufficient to bear the Holy God’s wrath in such a way as to satisfy his justice.  As we have seen, this is what Scripture means when Paul says, “he became a curse for us.”  This is what Peter is proclaiming in his first epistle when he writes, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. . . . He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 1:18-19; 2:24). 

This simply means that Jesus Christ bore in his own body the penalty of the curse due us for our own sins.  Because he is truly God, his sacrifice alone is sufficient for to satisfy God’s justice so that our sins are forgiven.  Because Jesus is truly human, he can die for us and in our place.  This then is the heart of the biblical teaching about the death of Christ—Christ dying for us and in our place to satisfy the justice of God.  This is what the famous doctrine of the “substitutionary atonement” is all about.

It is God’s love for his fallen creatures and his mercy towards his elect which motivates him to send Christ to do what is necessary so that we might be saved.  Let us not make the mistake of “neutering God” by making him all love while forgetting the part about him hating all sin.  For even the words “God is love,” are meaningless apart from the death of Christ, where we see the second person of the Holy Trinity, having taken to himself a true human nature, suffering unspeakable agony so that God’s anger toward us is turned away. 

It is in the cross that we see both the love and the justice of God.  Neither is sacrificed, and through Christ’s death, God’s elect are delivered from the guilt and power of sin.

The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine, Article Three

Article 3: The Infinite Value of Christ's Death

This death of God's Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world.
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At this point, the Canons deal with the question of the value (efficacious nature) of Christ’s satisfaction upon the cross.  Since the Reformed “limit” the benefits of the death of Christ to the elect only, it is important for the authors to clarify that Christ’s death is not at all limited when we consider the question of the value of the death of Christ in removing the guilt and the stain of sin so as to satisfy God’s justice. 

The Reformed position is that the death of Christ is of such value (infinite) that it is completely sufficient to satisfy God’s justice toward all sins.  Christ’s death is indeed sufficient to remove the guilt of every sin committed by every person, who has ever lived, in each and every age. 

But the limit placed upon the atonement does not lie in the power of the cross to remove [or expiate] sin.  If God had chosen to save all men and women without exception, Christ’s death would be sufficient to save all—he would not need to be punished longer, or shed more blood so that more could be saved. 

Christ’s death is beyond all measurable value in its power to remove sin and satisfy God’s justice.  And this is why the authors state: “This death of God's Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world.” 

But the Reformed do argue that God sent Christ not to make the world savable (potentially), if only sinners do what is necessary for them to be saved.  Instead, the Reformed contend that the intent of the death of Christ is to save God's elect, since Christ’s satisfaction is more than sufficient for all their sins. 

Christ’s death does exactly what God intended it to do.  Simply put, Christ satisfies God’s justice and his anger toward his elect through his death for them upon the cross.  The Reformed reject the universalist notion (typical of Arminianism), that Christ’s death makes sinners “savable” under certain conditions since it shows forth God’s love for a lost and fallen world.  Instead, the death of Christ actually satisfies God’s justice so that God’s elect can be saved, it does not merely render people "savable."

The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine, Article Two

Article 2: The Satisfaction Made by Christ

Since, however, we ourselves cannot give this satisfaction or deliver ourselves from God's anger, God in his boundless mercy has given us as a guarantee his only begotten Son, who was made to be sin and a curse for us, in our place, on the cross, in order that he might give satisfaction for us.
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Under the second head of doctrine, the Canons move on to make the critical point in articles 2, 3, 4, that there is absolutely nothing which sinful men and women can do that can satisfy the wrath of God. 

Since God’s wrath toward us results from our offence of his infinite majesty (both in Adam, and because of our actual sin), his justice demands that the satisfaction made be equal to the offence.  Because the offence is against the Holy God, there is no way a mere creature could satisfy an offence against God’s infinite holiness.  As the Heidelberg Catechism puts it in questions 16 and 17, the one who dies for our sins must be truly human because “God’s justice demands that human nature, which has sinned pay for its sin,” but goes on to remind us that one “sinner could never pay for others.”  This is why, as the catechism notes, the one who offers the sacrifice must also be true God, “so that by the power of his divinity, he might bear the wight of God’s anger in his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.”  

This is exactly what Isaiah prophesied of the suffering servant in the Servant Song of Isaiah 52:13-53:12:

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—15 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Similarly, Paul speaks of this satisfaction in 2 Corinthians 5:21 when he states that “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Or we can put it another way, as do the Canons—“God in his boundless mercy has given us as a guarantee his only begotten Son, who was made to be sin and a curse for us, in our place, on the cross, in order that he might give satisfaction for us.” 

The law of God demands perfect obedience of us in thought, word, and deed, during every moment of our lives.  To break even a single stipulation of God’s perfect law, as James says (James 2:10), is to be guilty of breaking every single commandment.  To break the law the law at but one point is to come under its  entire curse, for as Paul puts it in Galatians 3:10, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 

God’s passing mark is perfect obedience.  He is not going to grade the final for eternal life on a curve!  And the curse, of course, is death and eternal punishment.  The bad news is very, very bad, but the good news is very, very good!  

As Paul says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”  When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, he was bearing in his own body God’s wrath and anger toward our sins, our personal infractions of God’s law.  Jesus became a curse for us, and bore God’s curse for us, so that we who are guilty, may live and be set free from the guilt of sin and the effects of the curse.

This is where we see God’s justice and mercy visibly and wonderfully displayed.  God was under no obligation to save even a single one of those who fell in Adam, but in his grace and mercy he sent his son to satisfy his justice so that we might be delivered from that wrath to come and be given the free gift of eternal life.  

Thus God acts in the person of his son to do what is necessary for us to be saved.  A decree to elect sinners to salvation necessarily leads to Christ’s death upon the cross.  And this is why even election must be seen to center in the work of the mediator of the covenant of grace, made with God’s elect, the chosen seed of Abraham.

The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine, Article One

The Second Main Point of Doctrine

Christ's Death and Human Redemption Through It

Article 1: The Punishment Which God's Justice Requires

God is not only supremely merciful, but also supremely just. His justice requires (as he has revealed himself in the Word) that the sins we have committed against his infinite majesty be punished with both temporal and eternal punishments, of soul as well as body. We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is given to God's justice.

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Under the first head of doctrine, the authors of the Canons completed their treatment of human sinfulness (total depravity) and divine mercy (unconditional election), commonly known as the first two points of Calvinism.  

In the first head, it was clearly established that all men and women have fallen in Adam, and are not only guilty because Adam acted as their divinely chosen representative so that the guilt of Adam's sin was imputed (or reckoned, or accounted) to them, but they are also guilty for all of their own sinful actions which spring forth from sinful human nature.  

This is what we mean when we speak of  “total depravity.”  This does not mean that all of us are always as bad as we can possibly be, only that sin has infected us in our entire person, from head to toe, and that there is no part of human nature that is not tainted, stained, or corrupted by the consequences of the fall of our race into sin. 

To use a biblical analogy, we are by nature not only children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), we are the kind of bad trees described by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (7:15 ff.) who can only bear bad fruit.  This is, as our Lord tells us, the visible manifestation of our hidden wickedness and depravity.  

On a practical level this means that we are born in sin, and apart from God's grace, our wills are in bondage to our sinful nature, and we can only use the good gifts which God has given to us for sinful (self-centered) purposes.  Lacking faith, we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6).  We sin because we are sinners.  We sin because we like to sin.  And since the wages of sin is death, we are all subject to the curse.  Left on our own, and to our own devices, we do not want Jesus as our Lord.  Instead, we desire to be lord of our own lives, and so we go our own way.  We are not overly concerned about God showing his mercy to us, since we do not think that we really need it, and since we believe that somehow God is obliged to give it to us any way.

To read the rest of this article, Click here: Riddleblog - Notes on the Canons of Dort (Second Head)

The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine, Rejection of Errors, Paragraph Nine

Synod condemns those . . .

IX Who teach that the cause for God's sending the gospel to one people rather than to another is not merely and solely God's good pleasure, but rather that one people is better and worthier than the other to whom the gospel is not communicated.

For Moses contradicts this when he addresses the people of Israel as follows: Behold, to Jehovah your God belong the heavens and the highest heavens, the earth and whatever is in it. But Jehovah was inclined in his affection to love your ancestors alone, and chose out their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as at this day (Deut. 10:14-15). And also Christ: Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! for if those mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Matt. 11:21).
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The last major error to be refuted by the Canons (under the first head of doctrine) is that which teaches that the preaching of the gospel and the response to it in a particular time and place, is not ordained by God.  It is not as if the acceptance of the good news came about because some of those nations who heard it are wiser, more noble, or that some particular peoples are more disposed to believe than others, when the gospel first comes to them.   No, Scripture is clear--all people are equally sinful, and equally resistant to the message of God's free grace in Christ.

The error in question opens the door to a number of related problems.  One, which comes to mind, is a subtle form of racism, in which it has been argued that the “heathen nations” are heathen, not because of human sinfulness which effects all peoples and nations equally, but because of the color of a particular people’s skin (the supposed "curse of Ham"), or because of a people’s ethnic derivation (under a national curse), geographical locale (a cursed region), or because of a supposed cultural inferiority (a land which has been pagan).  This kind of thinking led to the view that the nations of Northern Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the United States in the 19th and 20th, were somehow essential (not because of providence, but because of their supposed superior piety) to the advance of the kingdom of God.  Sadly, we vestiges of this today in the “Christian America” notion, in which some of our contemporaries act as though the mission and purpose of the United States is somehow essential to the advance of God's kingdom.  

Of course, God has used the heirs of the Reformation to evangelize much of the world, and those of us with Northern European heritage can indeed testify to the covenant faithfulness of God, as many of us can trace the faith of our fathers back for generations.  But there are two things we must not forget.  The first is that Northern Europe was at one time utterly pagan, until evangelized by Mediterranean peoples in the early centuries of the last millennium.  Second, we must realize that times have changed.  There are nearly as many Reformed Christians in Nigeria as there are in the United States.  There are more Korean-speaking Reformed Christians in Southern California than there are those who can trace their ancestry to the Netherlands and Scotland combined.  Ironically, it is now the nations of Northern Europe and the United Stares that experience more cultural darkness than many of the nations of the third world.  How does this relate to Arminianism?

The Arminian charge has always been that if the Reformed view of election is actually taught in Scripture, then what incentive would there to evangelize the nations or support the cause of missions since God has already decreed who will believe and who will not?  But this objection boomerangs on the Arminian, as the Canons note, because this implies that those who accept the gospel (on the Arminian scheme) are able to use their powers and advantages that God has given them, and that those who do not accept the gospel and who do not take advantage of these powers, must somehow be more wicked, suffer from a greater depravity, or perhaps, suffer from a greater ignorance of the things of God, than do those who do take advantage of these things.  

After all–says the Arminian–believers come to faith, persevere, and then live holy lives, because they saw the need to utilize the grace of God to their advantage when others did not.  Given fallen human nature, it is only natural that this would work its way into western expansionism and manifest destiny, since white Europeans believed in greater numbers than did native Americans, or other non-Europeans.  There is a tendency to see the hope of the gospel as residing in the "goodness" of those who did indeed use what God has given them to the greatest possible advantage.

Not so with the doctrine of election set forth in the Canons.  The Scriptures teach that all the nations of the earth are the fallen children of Adam.  There is no people on earth who ever embraced the gospel because they were somehow in a better position to take advantage of the grace of God, humanly speaking.  People believed the message only because God was gracious unto them by so inclining their hearts and granting them faith!  That is why we have missionaries after all--to go and preach the gospel through which God creates faith and saves his elect.

In those instances where God did this in great numbers, of course, a culture or a nation will receive tremendous benefits as believers in Christ then become salt and light in the city of man.   But the only reason that any have believed and then become salt and light in their own particular culture, is because God graciously and sovereignly rescued them from their sin through the preaching of the gospel! 

As Paul puts it so clearly in Romans 10:12-15, God calls his elect to faith through the preaching of the gospel—“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  Preachers are sent, God grants faith. 

Therefore, God has not only ordained the ends (who will be saved), he has also ordained the means by which his elect will be called to faith (the preaching of the gospel).  In the Reformed view it is  God who receives the glory when people come to Christ (especially in those cases when many in a nation become believers), and not the individuals who come to faith.  This means that no individual or nation can take credit for that which rightly belongs to God. 

What else can we do then, but to take the gospel to the nations so that men and women—God’s elect—will embrace the savior and come to faith?  God has commanded this, and through this he will bring glory and honor to himself!
   

The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine, Rejection of Errors, Paragraph Eight

Synod condemns the error of those . . .

VIII  Who teach that it was not on the basis of his just will alone that God decided to leave anyone in the fall of Adam and in the common state of sin and condemnation or to pass anyone by in the imparting of grace necessary for faith and conversion.

For these words stand fast: He has mercy on whom he wishes, and he hardens whom he wishes (Rom. 9:18). And also: To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given (Matt. 13:11). Likewise: I give glory to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to little children; yes, Father, because that was your pleasure (Matt. 11:25_26).

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The error identified and refuted in paragraph eight is one which attempts to locate reprobation in people’s  misuse of their freedom, not in the sovereign will of God.  According to this error, people somehow manage to reprobate themselves, by using their free will in such a way as to disqualify themselves from that which they could have otherwise obtained–salvation from sin.  In other words, these people could have co-operated with God’s grace, and then believed the gospel.  Instead, they “chose poorly,” as someone once put it.

This erroneous notion results from the Arminian contention that despite the fall of the human race into sin, men and women are still able to co-operate with the grace of God, and when they do so, they are thereby inclined to believe, repent, and live in holiness before God.  When the logic of the Arminian view is applied to those whom do not chose co-operate with God’s grace (the reprobate), the reason given as to why these people are not numbered among the elect is because they did not chose to believe, repent, and live a holy life before God.  To put it crudely, they reprobated themselves by not co-operating with grace.
 
As stated previously in the Canons, there are three reasons why people are numbered among the reprobate.  First, God does not chose all to receive eternal life, and the reprobate are left “in the common misery into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves.”  Second, God does not “grant them saving faith and the grace of conversion,” meaning that he leaves them in the same condition in which they are in Adam (fallen).  Third, God will “eternally punish them (having been left in their own ways and under his just judgment), not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins, in order to display his justice.”  

This means that the reason why God does not choose them is to magnify his justice, and not because the sinner does something to reprobate themselves.  Those who are numbered among the reprobate were already dead and sin and under the just condemnation of God.  They are deserving of whatever judgment God determines will be meted out upon them.  They are reprobated by God, because he decrees not to deliver them from their fallen condition.  They are punished because of their participation in Adam’s sin, and for their actual sins. Those whom God determines not to choose,  receive divine justice–which they deserve–not mercy, which ultimately stems from God’s gracious nature and mysterious purposes.

The authors of the Canons respond to this Arminian error by simply citing the biblical text which speak to this: “He has mercy on whom he wishes, and he hardens whom he wishes (Rom. 9:18). And also: To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given (Matt. 13:11). Likewise: I give glory to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to little children; yes, Father, because that was your pleasure (Matt. 11:25-26).”

The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine, Rejection of Errors, Paragraph Seven

Synod condemns those . . .

VII  Who teach that in this life there is no fruit, no awareness, and no assurance of one's unchangeable election to glory, except as conditional upon something changeable and contingent.

For not only is it absurd to speak of an uncertain assurance, but these things also militate against the experience of the saints, who with the apostle rejoice from an awareness of their election and sing the praises of this gift of God; who, as Christ urged, rejoice with his disciples that their names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:20); and finally who hold up against the flaming arrows of the devil's temptations the awareness of their election, with the question Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? (Rom. 8:33).
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Like Roman Catholic theology, which argues that any notion of the assurance of salvation inevitably leads to presumption and laxity in the Christian life (the sin of presumption), so too, Arminians have argued that the ground of election is to be located in a Christian’s personal performance (faith and good works). 

According to the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, “No one...so long as he lives this mortal life, ought to regard to the sacred mystery of divine predestination, so far presume as to state with absolute certainty, that he is numbered of the predestined, as if it were true that the one justified either cannot sin any more, or, if he does sin, that he ought to promise himself an assured repentance.  For except by special revelation, it cannot be known who God has chosen to Himself.” (Sixth Session, Chapter XII).  As Rome sees the matter, no one can know that they are numbered among the elect.  This lack of assurance supposedly motivates the faithful to lead godly lives and to persevere in good works to the end of their lives, so that they may be saved.  In this scheme, the proper motivation for perseverance and good works is the fear of divine chastisement and/or eternal punishment.  Clearly,  Rome was afraid that believers who possessed assurance of their salvation would become morally lax, and live lives indifferent to good works and holy living.  

Some Arminians have taken a very similar position.  According to a work by Calvary Chapel pastor George Bryson, “by reducing perseverance to an inevitability all of the words of encouragement and warning are in a real sense wasted.  But in Scripture, perseverance in holiness to the end is seen as the challenge and the goal of the Christian life.  It should not be taken for granted.  To say that perseverance is what we will do because we are true believers is to radically redefine the meaning of perseverance.  Instead we need to see perseverance as what we ought to do because we are true believers.  God is more than able and willing to help us persevere in holiness and faith. The question is are we willing to let Him help us persevere?” (George Bryson, The Five Points of Calvinism, 113).  

For the Arminian, if the Christian believes, repents, and then lives a godly life unto the end, election is seen to be absolute and final.  The Arminian argues that this must be the case, or else Christians will mistakenly presume that they are of the elect, and will not live godly lives, nor seek God’s favor as they ought.  According to someone like Bryson, the Reformed view of election removes all incentive for both evangelism and good works. It was none other than John Wesley who argued that George Whitefield’s view of predestination (Reformed) was in error, since Whitefield’s Calvinism supposedly undermined the basis for the Christian life, which was, according to Wesley, fear of punishment and hope of reward.  It is with this in mind that the Arminians will challenge the Reformed to make sense of the warnings throughout the Scriptures for believers to persevere.

The Canons are quick to point out that the exact opposite state of affairs is taught us in Holy Scripture.  It is the believer’s assurance of salvation which serves as the basis for the good works we perform!  As the authors of the Canons put it:  “For not only is it absurd to speak of an uncertain assurance, but these things also militate against the experience of the saints, who with the apostle rejoice from an awareness of their election and sing the praises of this gift of God; who, as Christ urged, rejoice with his disciples that their names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:20); and finally who hold up against the flaming arrows of the devil's temptations the awareness of their election, with the question Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? (Rom. 8:33).”  

This is also the clear teaching of John’s Gospel (John 15:1-16):

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

According to Jesus, the elect are chosen for the purpose of bearing fruit, not the other way around!

People who live in fear of God are not energized to do good works.  Instead, they are paralyzed!  They live and act in fear.  Since they are never sure of God’s favor toward them, any works they perform are based upon fear, and do come not from the  gratitude arising from true faith.  Even worse, such works are often performed in an attempt to leverage favor from God.  As sinners, we all want more crowns and a bigger mansion!  Often times people laboring under the Roman-Arminian misconception, may even end up doing their works with the goal of being saved in the end.  Tragically, this leads to the real matter of presumption here, namely someone who believes that their "good" works will actually save them!   Now that is the height of presumption!  

It is only a Christian, who has the certain hope of heaven, who is truly free to obey the commandments of God!  The Reformed have always argued that the warnings in Scripture are indeed valid, and the elect heed these warnings!  The elect hear the shepherd’s voice!  They believe the gospel.  They flee to Christ when they fall into sin or struggle with doubt. 

It must also be said that the Bible knows nothing of a person numbered among the elect, who will not be justified, and sanctified, before reaching glorification.  At some point, the elect will indeed come to faith and be justified.  And through the same act of faith which justifies, the life-time process of sanctification immediately begins.   God begins the work (election).  God sustains his work in time and space (faith and its fruits, repentance and good works).  God sees it through to the end (perserverence)!  Indeed, believers persevere not because we are strong enough, but because God is strong enough! We persevere, not because of our faith, but because of God’s faithfulness.  We persevere not to be numbered among the elect, but because we are already numbered among the elect.

Tragically, it is Romanism and Arminianism which lead to a life of fear and doubt, not faith and a life of gratitude.  As the author to the Hebrews proclaims, “without faith, it is impossible to please God.”  Through faith in Christ, we are covered by the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ himself, and therefore every work which we perform--no matter how selfish or tainted by sin that work may be--is pleasing to God.  Why?  Because God cannot turn aside the righteousness of his Son in which we are clothed!

The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine, Rejection of Errors, Paragraph Six

Synod condemns the error of those . . .

VI Who teach that not every election to salvation is unchangeable, but that some of the chosen can perish and do in fact perish eternally, with no decision of God to prevent it.

By this gross error they make God changeable, destroy the comfort of the godly concerning the steadfastness of their election, and contradict the Holy Scriptures, which teach that the elect cannot be led astray (Matt. 24:24), that Christ does not lose those given to him by the Father (John 6:39), and that those whom God predestined, called, and justified, he also glorifies (Rom. 8:30).
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Another error associated with certain forms of Arminianism follows from the formulation of the dual decree described in refutation of errors, paragraph five.  In this case, the Arminian argues, God will never withhold his salvation from those who do indeed believe, repent, and live holy lives before him.   But since election is not absolute, and in this regard is only general and universal, there is no guarantee that those who are chosen by God will persevere in faith to the end, and therefore be saved. 

As we have seen, the argument runs as follows.  God has determined the plan of salvation, but has not chosen the specific individuals who are themselves to be saved.  Those who fulfill God's requirements are considered to be numbered among the elect.

The problem with this should be obvious.  Those who are presently in Christ, can take no comfort in the fact of their election, because there is absolutely no guarantee that they will remain in Christ until death.  This places the onus on the individual to persevere in the Christian life, and does not give the believer the comfort of knowing that it is Christ who is even now ensuring that the elect will persevere to the end and be saved (cf. Luke 22:32; 1 John 2:1-2).  

Scripture is crystal clear that Christ’s Spirit indwells us, and serves as a deposit guaranteeing that if we are in Christ at this moment, we will die in Christ.  As Paul says in Ephesians 1:13 ff:  “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”  When we believe, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who seals us until the day of the resurrection. 

There is no evidence whatsoever found in Scripture which indicates that the Holy Spirit indwells us for a time and then leaves us if and when we commit specific sins, or if we cease to believe.  Yes, the Psalmist pleads "take not your Holy Spirit from me," (51:11). But this is expressing the fear of worried believer, and does not mean that God threatens such a thing. 

In fact, Peter declares (1 Peter 1:3-9),  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,  so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,  obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

In fact, it would seem from Peter’s words (and from Paul’s comments cited above), that the reason we continue to believe is because the Holy Spirit does, in fact, ensure that we continue to believe!  In 1 John 2:1-2, the Apostle writes, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  It is the one in whom we are chosen (Christ--Ephesians 1:4), who presently stands as our defense attorney when we sin.  He does not serve as a prosecutor!  

Arminianism, in all its forms, does great injustice to the present priestly work of Christ.  According to Arminianism, many for whom Christ supposedly dies, and for whom he is currently interceding, somehow manage to slip through his fingers, escape his grasp, fall away, and then suffer eternal loss.  The whole point of Christ’s present work as Advocate is that when we try and get away from God, it is Christ who keeps us in the fold.  The good shepherd will lose none of the sheep given him by the father (John 6:37; 10:29).  This is Jesus' promise to us!

Sadly, Arminianism robs the Christian of the comfort of assurance of salvation won for them by Christ, and  instead instills unnecessary fear and doubt in the people of God.